"It's freedom, that's what it is," said Williams, who flies helicopters with 408 Squadron in Edmonton.

"There's no one there to save you and, in a way, it's scary but also it's probably the best feeling ever just getting in an aircraft and knowing that you're the one who's going to save yourself."

Bjornson is Canada's first female airline pilot. She joined Transair in 1973, becoming the first woman in North America to fly a jet aircraft for a scheduled air carrier.

"I've always liked being in control, so being in control of an aircraft was just really a wonderful sense of freedom," Bjornson said.

She smiled down at three neat rows of Girl Guides as she recounted her journey.

"I think women, especially young women, don't realize their capabilities and the only way they'll find out is if they try," Bjornson said.

Williams won her wings with a flying scholarship, before joining the Air Force. She trained and studied alongside mostly male recruits before earning a coveted position as a military pilot.

"I still have young girls, if they see me in uniform, say, 'Oh, I didn't know girls were allowed.' That's a little heartbreaking," Williams said.

"I just want to make sure that these girls know that there's an option and if they want it, they can go for it."

'There's nothing holding us back'

Eleven-year-old Roryana Nazaruk wants to be a pilot by age 30 — at the latest.

As a Navy Cadet, she learned all about boats. Now she's lifting her gaze to the sky, with plans of trading her black navy uniform for Air Cadet blue.

"I'm really excited," she said. "Flying, it seems really cool.

"When I travel [by plane] I like to look out the window and look at the wings and I ask my parents if we can find tickets to seats closer to the window where the wings are, so I can watch how they lift up."

After listening to Saturday's presentation with her friends from Girl Guides, Nazaruk said she doesn't see the sky as a limit.

"I can do anything, same as you can do anything," Nazaruk said. "There's nothing holding us back."